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Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
RECAP: Air & Waste Management Association - Southern Section Conference - Defining Brownfield Success
Friday, September 16, 2016
Company Not Liable for Pre-Ownership Cleanup Costs
From Environmental Due Diligence Guide™ and Environmental Due Diligence Guide Report™
Environmental due diligence is a critical component of any property transaction where potential environmental risks are a concern—minimize risks and protect yourself from...
Environmental due diligence is a critical component of any property transaction where potential environmental risks are a concern—minimize risks and protect yourself from...
A Pennsylvania company is liable only for response costs incurred after it took ownership of a contaminated site, not for those incurred beforehand, a federal trial court ruled Aug. 30 ( Pa. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot. v. Trainer Custom Chem. LLC , 2016 BL 282578, E.D. Pa., No. 15-1232, 8/30/16 ).
Judge Eduardo C. Robreno of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s motion for summary judgment on liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the state’s Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act regarding the liability of site owner Trainer Custom Chemical LLC (TCC).
The court, however, denied the DEP’s motion on damages in the form of response costs the company owes to the department, finding that it couldn't calculate the relevant personnel charges related to work at the site. It also declined to pierce the corporate veil and hold Jeremy Hunter and James Halkias, who had organized the company, personally liable for the response costs.
Hunter and Halkias formed TCC in October 2012 and a month later purchased the Stoney Creek site, located in Trainer, Pa., for $20,600.
Prior to the purchase, Stoney Creek Technologies LLC owned the site, which contained approximately 17 million pounds of raw materials, chemical products and wastes and other waste materials used to support on-site activities as of 2007. That year, the state agency identified a release or threatened release due to the improper storage or disposal of roughly 3 million pounds of flammable or combustible chemicals.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiated response actions under CERCLA. When Stoney Creek no longer could pay its electric bills, the state agency began paying the bills to ensure the utility didn’t cut power, which could have resulted in additional releases of chemicals. It claims to have spent about $820,000 on electricity.
The borough of Trainer issued a permit to Halkias to raze structures on the site, and the reclaimed metals were sold for more than $875,000 to JK Myers, a business entity formed by Halkias.
When inspectors from the department visited the site in 2013 and 2014, they found that the demolition of pipes, tanks and buildings had left storage tanks cut open, allowing unknown materials to spill out of the tanks. The department filed a cost recovery action under both state and federal laws against TCC and Hunter and Halkias as individuals.
Primarily at issue was whether liability extends to costs incurred by the department before TCC took ownership of the site.
[MORE]
Judge Eduardo C. Robreno of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s motion for summary judgment on liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the state’s Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act regarding the liability of site owner Trainer Custom Chemical LLC (TCC).
The court, however, denied the DEP’s motion on damages in the form of response costs the company owes to the department, finding that it couldn't calculate the relevant personnel charges related to work at the site. It also declined to pierce the corporate veil and hold Jeremy Hunter and James Halkias, who had organized the company, personally liable for the response costs.
Hunter and Halkias formed TCC in October 2012 and a month later purchased the Stoney Creek site, located in Trainer, Pa., for $20,600.
Prior to the purchase, Stoney Creek Technologies LLC owned the site, which contained approximately 17 million pounds of raw materials, chemical products and wastes and other waste materials used to support on-site activities as of 2007. That year, the state agency identified a release or threatened release due to the improper storage or disposal of roughly 3 million pounds of flammable or combustible chemicals.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiated response actions under CERCLA. When Stoney Creek no longer could pay its electric bills, the state agency began paying the bills to ensure the utility didn’t cut power, which could have resulted in additional releases of chemicals. It claims to have spent about $820,000 on electricity.
The borough of Trainer issued a permit to Halkias to raze structures on the site, and the reclaimed metals were sold for more than $875,000 to JK Myers, a business entity formed by Halkias.
When inspectors from the department visited the site in 2013 and 2014, they found that the demolition of pipes, tanks and buildings had left storage tanks cut open, allowing unknown materials to spill out of the tanks. The department filed a cost recovery action under both state and federal laws against TCC and Hunter and Halkias as individuals.
Primarily at issue was whether liability extends to costs incurred by the department before TCC took ownership of the site.
[MORE]
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